ANTSTORE World of Ants

[mzfckr]

one of my queens died... but at least other queen is very active

[JimmyVe]

F.sanguinea need slaves.
JimmyVe - could you give more info?

Well all info i can give you on this species, if you have a single queen you better give them some cocoons from Formica fusca that way you have more change of getting a colony. It also better to give them slaves after she has workers on there own, because they do most of the work in the nest area. But it is possible to have a bigger colony without slaves of this species.


And how do you diffuse the flash with a paper towel ?

[Ehx-ray]

Ok, bigger colony will be able to live without slaves, but at first F.sanguinea queens need slaves to help start that colony. I had few and without slaves they didn't bother to lay eggs. And i had them like that for about month, and they were hunting for small bugs and eating honey etc. alone. Few days after haching of the first slaves they lied their own eggs. Conclusion: F.sanguinea do need slaves.

[Phasmid]

how do you diffuse the flash with a paper towel ?

You fold it to the right size and hold it in front of the flash so that the light bounces of the paper towel onto the ant .

[JimmyVe]

It is know they can start up a colony without slaves but it is much better to give them slaves. Like you're story, you have much more change on getting a colony if you give them slaves.

@Phasmid: Ah, okay i think now i understand. (any pictures of how you do it )

[darradar]

blimey o riley those photos are amazing,

[Phasmid]

Some more Acromyrmex octospinosus pics.



And other ants.

[JimmyVe]

Very nice pictures and very nice ants. Thanks for sharing.

Could you take a picture of the complete setup from your Acromyrmex colony ? I would love to see that.

[Phasmid]

Heres the setup, there is about 10litres of space for the garden to fill. Very very cheap compared to what some people use, altogether about 70pounds

[JimmyVe]

Thanks, looks nice.
How do you keep the nest area (where the fungus is) moist ? Do you use a heat mat.

These are very interesting ants. And not a lot of people keep them. If you like and if you have the time feel free to keep a diary of these ants in the "Exotic Ants" Forum.

[Phasmid]

The fungus garden in sitting on about 4cm of damp plaster, this holds moisture realy well and the basin they're in doesn't let much moisture out so I hardly ever have to add water.
I have a heat-mat under the fungus basin to keep it at 24c, but the rest of the setup is at room temp and humidity.

[dodgydogman]

Wow. How do you keep the heat/humidity at 24c all the time? Can you adjust the power of the heat mat to raise the temperature? For the humidity; do you just spay water in, wait a bit see it the humidity level increases and repeat or do you have another method?

[Phasmid]

The heat-mat is connected to a thermostat and set to 25C.
Humidity is easy, there is 1.5" of plaster in the tank and I just make sure its always very damp, the heat from the mat and the water in the plaster is all that is needed to maintain high humidity in the box.

[dodgydogman]

Thats clever. What do you feed them, it must be hard finding a certain plant every few days.

[Phasmid]

Some of the food I can think of right now: *Favorite food **Winter food

* **Eucalyptus
**Grass
* **Cauliflower leaves
* **Oranges
**Orange leaves
**Lemon leaves
* **Apples
**Grapes
*Peach leaves
**Brambles
Rose
**Raisins
Honeysuckle
*Lavender leaves
Privet
Any flower petals
**Peas
**Sprouts

The main rule is: try every thing (that hasn't got pesticides/fungicides on/in it)